[Tfug] random squares

[Robert Hunter]

On 10/21/07, Robert Hunter <hunter at tfug.org> wrote:
> On 10/21/07, christopher floess <skeptikos at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I know I could use math.random(), but
>> would anyone recommend a better way to do this?
>
> This is especially nice if a "shuffle" function is
> already provided for you.

A Knuth shuffle in less than ten lines of JavaScript.

<snip language="JavaScript">
// randomize the order of an array
function shuffleArray(ary) {
    if (ary.length == 1) {
        return ary;
    } else {
        var n = Math.floor(Math.random() * ary.length);
        var x = ary.splice(n, 1);
        var y = shuffleArray(ary);
        y.push(x[0]);
        return y;
    }
}
</snip>

PS. It's probably a one-liner in Perl ;-)

-- 
RH